MeerkatThe live video app was the talk of the town. Almost every session mentioned it and a lot of the big media brands offered up POVs on what the next step would be for the network. Since SXSW ended, Twitter announced it’s own live-stream competitor, Periscope. Let the battle begin.ExpansionBigger than ever, SXSW added a few days at the beginning of the conference to focus on food and education. They also dedicated more time and space to gaming and social goodness.New MediaBuzzfeed, Mashable, VOX Networks, etc. - the new media brands really held court this SX. Their message focused on how big the media playing field is, how crucial content / storytelling and their diversified revenue strategies.

StorytellingThe content story was all about the storytellers. SXSW featured forty-five panels on the subject from content creation workshops, UX training to case studies on content strategies.Women in TechAnother big topic was diversity in the boardroom and the tech world. Lots of passionate stories about the importance of bringing in new voices and the success a lot of brands have had when the focused on diversity.Redefining “Millenial”Quite a few panels talked about the idea that Millennials weren’t a group based on age, but a group based on behavior. They want the new thing, they want to give feedback, they want to move fast, they see curation and creation as the same thing. Micro-broadcasters and creative thinkers.

Global ContentAnother interesting idea in the content conversation was about brands focusing on developing native content for networks. Creating content that is meant to only live on Twitter, Facebook and others, not just posting links to drive away from that network.Influencer FormulaThe right message from the right people was a big topic at SX. Several brands looked to influential people as the solution. They gave pointers on picking the right influencers, managing them and what a successful campaign should look like.Diversified RevenueSeveral publishing brands talked about diversifying their revenue sources by owning more the “stack.” That meant in some cases, developing content strategy for advertisers, producing content, using data to plan and execute campaigns and a several other methods outside of simply displaying ad units.The DAS TeamA popular offering for agencies and brands was a content creating team built to develop special projects. The team is lean, composed of 3 people: a designer, an analyst and strategist. This DAS team is meant to go from concept to completion quickly and without requiring additional resources.Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.

I’ve worked in Social Media for over eight years as both a Community Manager and an Account Manager for some of the biggest brands in social. No matter who the client is, one of the biggest questions I get today is, “how do I grow my Instagram following?” So I ventured out to show that no matter what the brand or who your client is, there is a proven method for growing your Instagram fan base!Sure, if you’re a fortune 500 brand it makes things a little easier, but what if you’re not? What if you are a dog? That’s right, I’m going to use a dog to illustrate my case for how to successfully grow any Instagram account.Step one in this experiment – almost one year ago - was to reserve the perfect handle for a dog that didn’t even exist yet. Then, on August 21, 2014, I brought home the cutest dog in the world and began Pumpkin The Doxie’s journey on Instagram

In just five months, Pumpkin has amassed over 25,000 followers, averages 2,000+ likes and 100+ comments per post, and has some die-hard fans. How did I do it? I employed the same tactics I have used for dozens of clients and I’m here to share this wisdom with you today.It doesn’t matter what your Instagram account is - it can be about your obsession with skinny margaritas for all I care. I can bet that someone else out there has an obsession with the perfect skinny margarita too.So want to know how it’s done? Read below… and have fun!BE CONSISTENT, BUT NOT ANNOYINGYou know the feeling - you just launched your Insta account and you have some really great photos that the world needs to see. So why not post them all now, more is better, right? Don’t do it. You know what I’m talking about. You think no one will care if I post six photos in a row right now? Well they do. Wait and pace yourself, you can always use those old photos for #ThrowbackThursday.To post or not to post! You better believe that an obsessed pet owner (like myself) takes at least a dozen photos of their pride and joy each day, but taking photos and posting are two different things. Take as many pictures as you’d like, but focus on creating the best post with the right caption, 1 - 2 times a day.

DON’T WAIT FOR THEM TO FIND YOUI could talk all day about using hashtags (do it) or figuring out the right time of day to post for maximum likes (test, test, and test some more). But if you really want to see your numbers start to pile up with the right kind of fans, you have to dedicate time every day for some good old fashion FOLLOWING!On a good day, I invest at least an hour or two following new people, in addition to responding to comments, questions, liking and replying on other popular dog accounts. Even the cutest pet in the world can’t get followers overnight – unless you have Grumpy Cat Part 2, in which case ignore everything I just said.How do you find the right people to follow? It’s simple: Click on the followers of similar accounts like yours and follow them! If they like one skinny margarita, I’m 95% sure they’ll like yours. You can use a free app like Crowd Fire to do this right from your phone.TAP INTO TRENDING TOPICSA great way to gain traction is to play off a trendy meme, popular song or recent pop culture event. Case in point: I took a photo of Pumpkin puffing out his chest ala Nick Jonas, added that lyric that everyone has in their head, and the rest is history. With a little creativity you can fit your brand into almost any situation.FIGURE OUT WHATS WORKINGFinally, you have to look at the numbers. What’s working? What kind of content can we cut? Who are your biggest fans? What kind of photo and caption drives the most engagement?Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay for fancy tools to figure this stuff out. Do yourself a favor and use a free tool called Iconosquare. They offer a wide selection of ways to toggle through your most successful posts, offer insight into hashtags, time of day, and even which filters are working the best for you.

Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.

"I don't understand why people are so down on "everyone" around them getting engaged... Weddings are (or should be) an absolute blast.”That was my friend Caroline on Facebook last week. Her post seemed timely - it is wedding season after all. But her post referred to an interesting tide that had been rising in my newsfeed - the backlash against “everyone getting married”. So I thought to myself is everyone our age actually married? Has the potential dating pool dried up?Social data is a great barometer for this sort of thing. People openly declare their relationship statuses, location, age, etc. giving us an easy to follow paper trail to decipher the availability of the people around you. That’s how we know that someone that’s in an “Open Relationship” is most likely to live in California. Go figure.So I cracked open our data base of tens of thousands of Facebook Id’s, likes, locations, genders and did some digging. The graph below tracks what percent of our database was single, married, etc. between the ages of 20 and 30. (Fig. 1.1) To the surprise of no one, it’s really good to be young and single. 59% of our sample declared themselves single at the age of 20. While those highs will never be reached again in our lifetime, 33% of people my age (27) declare themselves single, at 29 its 26%. That means that about 1 out of every 4 people is technically available to “grab dinner” or “come over to my place to watch a movie”.

But there are ton of factors that can impact these numbers. The pressure to get married is totally different at every socio economic level. So in an effort to level the playing field, I looked at the composition of people in their 20’s by education level. Fig. 1.2 Just as you’d suspect, these numbers become much more evenly divided when you control for education. People who declare a high school education are 14% more likely to be married in their 20’s, and the more education you get, the more likely you are to be in a relationship but not married.

Personally I’m really lucky – I got to attend a four year university and graduate with a degree. What that means for my personal social network is that the vast majority of my friends also went to college. Caroline, the girl who loves weddings, actually went to college with me. So that means that about a third of our friends are available. While it is true that fifth of our peers are already married, there is still a ton of availability.But education is not the only factor. Geography (and the culture that follows it) is huge. Check out the relationship composition of New York, LA, and Texas. One of these things certainly is not like the other. Fig 1.3 Texas at 52%! Fully half of the population is married! Interestingly, less people are in a relationship. But with a single population of 30% it hasn’t impacted the “market” of single people. A single person in Texas faces the same relative odds as someone in a NYC or California.

Although it does seem like you will be meeting their parents a lot quicker. Fig.1.4 If we’re going to take the “market” metaphor a step further, any good market needs both buyers and sellers. That means (usually, although it should be noted not always) an even mix of males and females. The graph below breaks down the % share of the singles market that males and females owned. Interestingly, the graph mirrors my own experience. In my early 20’s I couldn’t get a date (when females were high demand) and then in my late 20’s I was able to meet a nice girl and settle down (roles switched and males become a hot item). Little did I know that it was the market and NOT my lucky shirt that got me a girlfriend.

In summary, thanks our Facebook Application data base we know that we will never again see a dating scene like our early 20’s. But the current state of things isn’t too bad – if getting married is a priority you can always move to Texas.Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.

Everyone knows hashtags are key when it comes to expanding your reach and building a following for your brand. But, do you know which hashtags you should be using? We've got your hashtag cheat sheet. No matter your specialty, we've got you covered.Some of these may not be the TOP hashtag in the category, but they are the hashtags that attract the most attention of your desired audience. While #Food has 147,782,320 uses, your post may get lost in the over-saturated feed, #Foodstagram on the other hand, has 4,687,200 tags and will catch the eye of the consumer you are trying to reach.We recommend using up to 7 hashtags, and try changing them up with your posts. This will get your posts seen by a broad spectrum of users and keep you from spamming the hashtags feed.

Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.

What you say about yourself matters much less than what others are saying about you, which is why we launched StoryCafe today. It’s an Influencer Marketing company headquartered in Los Angeles that matches Food & Restaurant brands with the right influencers so that they can amplify their voice across social.We believe that highly targeted, relevant advertising such as Facebook and Twitter work really well, but the vast majority of advertising is becoming significantly less effective. The continuous growth of social networks has made Word of Mouth much more prevalent than it was just two years ago. People are now listening much less to traditional ads and much more to other people, when making their purchasing decisions.According to Nielsen, less than 50% of customers believe in TV commercials, yet nearly 100% believe in advice from their friends and 70% trust online opinions. In other words, the messenger matters, particularly if he or she is authentic. Influencers are further down the sales funnel and have a much more intimate connection with consumers which translates to the brand.We’re really excited about our new business and we are currently working with a number of companies to place their messages in the hands of the most relevant influencers from a database of nearly 100,000 pinners, bloggers, viners, snappers, tweeters, instagramers, etc.

Our first campaign is a Valentine’s Day Promotion for California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) entitled “What We Do For Love”. Consumers who post a picture and caption to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with #CPKLoveSweeps can earn a chance to win CPK for a year through a $2,500 gift certificate. To add buzz and influence to the campaign, we reached out to contestants from The Bachelor to post pictures and captions that express the crazy things they do for love.Influencers participating include Courtney Robertson (Former Villain and Winner of Season 16) and Chris Bukowski (Notorious Bad Boy of Season 8). We also added popular Wedding Blogger, Jen Campbell, and others. All photos and captions are captured in a gallery along side CPK’s Valentine’s Day Dinner Special at bit.ly/CPKLove.For more detail, take a look at our website.Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.